Apparatus for cleaning hulls of vessels



No. 625,080. Patented May l6, I899. J. S.-.ZERBE.

APPARATUSFOB CLEANING HULLS 0F VESSELS.

(Application filed Aug. 26, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Wz'fneaaea: Invenor:

To all whom it may concern.-

NI'IED STATES JAMES S. ZERBE, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y., CLEANER COMPANY, OF PHIL ASSIGNOR TO TI -IE AMERICAN HULL ADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FoR CLEANING HULLS OF VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 625,080, dated May 16, 1899.

Application filed August 26, 1898.

Be it known that I, JAMES S. ZERBE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning Hulls, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a submarine hull-cleaner whereby a ships bottom can be cleaned or scraped without drydocking; and it consists of a shell having within one or more motors, with projecting shafts carrying revolving brushes for operating against the bot-tomof the vessel, and also provided with glass viewing-ports whereby the surface of the vessel can be examined as the work progresses. The shell has also a manhole to provide a means for closing the same and flexible air and ventilating tubes and also means for regulating the pressure of the brushes against the bottom of the vessel when the cleaner is in action, all of which will now be set forth in detail.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of my submarine hull-cleaner; Fig. 2, a side view of the same; Fig. 3, a central vertical section across the body of the shell, showing arrangement of the motors therein; and Fig. 4, a central section across the heads of the shell.

I prefer to make the bodyA of sheet-steel, and to this is secured the front end or head, which is composed of the flat portion B, with a narrow rim 0 disposed at an angle, as shown, and in this rim I place a number of glass ports D, so that the operator within the shell can view the bottom of the vessel when the cleaner is in action. A raised annular flange or rim B is formed between the brushes and the inclined ports. The rear head or end E of the shell is crowned and is provided with a flexible tube F for the purpose of ventilating the shell. Within thistube I place a smaller tube G to be used for supplying air and also the electric Wires H for the motors and the lights. These tubes are of sufficient length to reach to the gunwale or rail of the ship when the shell is at the keel.

On the upper side of the shell is a manhole I, and a band J, placed around theshell, has

Serial No. 689,565. (No model.)

four oppositely-disposed ears K, to which are attached bails Lone above and the other below the sh ellwhereby the shell is handled by means of guy-ropes extending entirely around the vessel and manipulated from the deck.

Through the angled rim- 0, I place three longitudinally-movable shafts M, the projecting ends of which carry caster wheels N. These wheels are designed to rest against the bottom of the ship, as will be hereinafter shown.

Within the shell each of the shafts M is provided with a lever O and connecting-rod P, whereby the operator can move the shaft longitudinally, and thus cause greater or less pressure of the operating-brushes against the ship. The levers and connecting-rods are here shown as representinga typical form for accomplishing this, as other applications have been filed which specifically point out and claim the particular construction best adapted for this purpose.

Directly opposite each caster-wheel is a steel-wire brush P, mounted on a shaft Q, which enters the head B of the shell. This shaft extends to a point near the crowned head E, where it is attached to an electric motor R. The operator within the shell has therefore control of the motors which turn the brushes and also the lovers M, which move the casters N to and from the ships bottom, and by means of the latter the requisite degree of pressure can be maintained by the brushes.

The weight of the shell and its equipment is less than the amount of water displaced by the shell when submerged, and when held beneath the water by means of cables and flloat- 0 ed against the vessel its buoyancy will be sufficient to keep it against the vessel, and the caster-wheels will then be employed to prevent too great a pressure of the brushes against the ship. When it is desired to move 5 the cleaner from place to place, the casters are moved out beyond the brushes, so that the latter do not press against the ship.

I call particular attention to the location of the glass observation-ports and to the angle at which they are placed. In the process of cleaning the front head containing the ports will be uppermost and when in certain positions under the ship will be horizontal. The

marine growth and barnacles detached by the brushes from the ships bottom will naturally fall on the head, thus covering the glass ports. By having the ports inclined, as shown, the debris will readily wash off, and thus keep the ports free for observation. To still further protect the ports, the annular flange or rim B projects sufficiently above the surface of the head B outside of the brushes to temporarily hold the principal portion of the debris accumulated while in a horizontal position, and when the head B is again moved up the inclined side of the ship to assume a vertical position the debris will be Washed off by the action of the brushes and by gravity. The location of the ports outside of the brushes and at an angle is extremely important, as my practical demonstration of the apparatus in the port of New York shows that it is an essential thing to have these glass ports placed at the outer edge, so that the benefit of the surrounding light will enable the operator to observe the effect of the cleaning process.

What I claim as new is- 1. A cylindrical shell for cleaning hulls, having within a motor or motors, and three connecting-shafts which pass through the wall of the shell and provided with brushes, and three shafts parallel with the brush-shafts passing through the front head said shafts being intermediate in the circle between the brush-shafts and carrying, exteriorly, caster- Wheels, said shafts being longitudinally operative within said shell, substantially as set forth.

2. A cylindrical shell having interiorly a motor and operative brushes exteriorly, a series of glass observation-ports at the perimeter and inclined at an angle to the head, an annular rim or flange on the head between the brushes and ports a conduit at the rear head for inlet-wires and air-supply, and a manhole to admit an operator, substantially as set forth.

3. A hull-cleaner composed of a cylindrical shell having withina motor, and exteriorly revoluble brushes, a series of glass observation-ports at the perimeter of the head which carries the brushes, caster-wheels mounted on longitudinally movable shafts to rest against the side of a ship, a manhole at the upper side of the shell, a conduit in the rear head for inlet-wires and ventilation, and bails for handling said shell, substantially as set forth.

4. A hull-cleaner composed of a cylindrical shell having motors within and projecting shafts connected to said motors and carrying brushes on the outside of the said shell, and lever-operated shafts, carrying casters at their outer ends, projecting from the said shell intermediate the said brush-carrying shafts and adapted to be operated from within the said shell for the purpose of bringing the said brushes into and out of contact with the hull, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 10th day of August, A. D. 1898.

JAMES S. ZERBE.

Witnesses:

W. S. WAR ICK, A. J. ZERBE. 

